President-elect Trump added well-known D.C. outsiders to major posts in his growing administration just before the Thanksgiving break.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would nominate South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley — someone he occasionally battled with during the campaign — to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations. The role, he said, will be a Cabinet-level position in his administration.
Trump also announced plans to nominate Michigan’s Betsy DeVos — a strong proponent of school choice — as his secretary of education.
Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a Trump primary rival turned confidante, also hinted to his followers Wednesday of a forthcoming announcement about his “role in helping to make America great again.” Trump acknowledged this week he is considering Carson to serve as his secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Carson’s Facebook post seemed to indicate he had been offered a position.
On Wednesday afternoon, Armstrong Williams, Carson’s close adviser, told the Washington Examiner: “He’s still considering. Expect something shortly after Thanksgiving.”
“Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country,” Trump said Wednesday morning about his decision to put Haley in the UN. “She is also a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage.”
“Our country faces enormous challenges here at home and internationally, and I am honored that the president-elect has asked me to join his team and serve the country we love as the next ambassador to the United Nations,” Haley said.
Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants and a former state legislator, is the first elected female governor of South Carolina. Her appointment paves the way for Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, an early Trump supporter, to become governor.
Haley’s selection also indicates Trump is willing to look beyond his most loyal backers in filling administration jobs. Both Trump and Haley have been critical of each other, getting personal at times. She denounced Trump’s proposed Muslim ban last year, calling it “absolutely un-American” and “unconstitutional.”
In March, Trump tweeted: “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!” That led Haley to respond: “@realDonaldTrump, Bless your heart.”
Haley, who met with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York City last week, is often mentioned as possible candidate down the road for president or vice president. This appointment would give the South Carolina governor foreign policy experience.
Announcing his choice for education secretary, Trump said, “Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate. Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.”
After her appointment was announced, some conservatives questioned her ties to groups that support the Common Core education standards, which Trump has said he wants to dismantle. “Many of you are asking about Common Core. To clarify, I am not a supporter—period,” she responded in a tweet.
During the campaign, Trump also seemed open to the idea of abolishing the Department of Education, something conservatives have promoted for years.
“A lot of people believe the Department of Education should just be eliminated,” Trump wrote in his book Crippled America. “Get rid of it. If we don’t eliminate it completely, we certainly need to cut its power and reach.”
Trump had not officially announced Carson as of Wednesday afternoon, but in a Wednesday post on Facebook, Carson seemed to suggest an appointment to HUD could be announced soon. “After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone,” he wrote.
“We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid,” Carson said. “An announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again.”
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: “I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD. I’ve gotten to know him well — he’s a greatly talented person who loves people!”
Carson and Trump sparred during the Republican primary when polls showed them competitive with each other. At one point last year, Trump cited a story about Carson’s childhood to attack his rival as “pathological.”
“It’s in the book that he’s got a pathological temper,” Trump said. “That’s a big problem because you don’t cure that … as an example: child molesting. You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that.”
But after dropping out of the contest, Carson endorsed Trump. “There are two different Donald Trumps. There’s the one you see on the stage, and there’s the one who’s very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully, you can have a very good conversation with him, and that’s the Donald Trump that you’re going to start seeing more and more of right now.”
Trump is expected to continue announcing his choices for other top administration positions in the coming days, including possibly secretary of state and secretary of defense.
Last week, Trump said he would make Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions his attorney general. He has also named retired Lt. General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, RNC chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon as his senior counselor.
